First Week

Week recap: There’s absolutely no way I could express all of the events that have transpired over the past week short of writing a miniature novella; therefore, I’ll be forced to provide you with only the major details and highlights below:

Travel Woes: I’d have to say my trip down here was a complete disaster and took fifty hours, door-to-door. After Continental lost my flight (don’t ask me where it went) I decided to make the best of the situation by having one last night out with some good friends. Little did I know that in an effort to keep from inflicting physical pain on the next airline attendant I saw I would be drinking my blues away that night, and I did a fantastic job of it. I awoke the next morning feeling all sorts of hung over and almost missed my flight since I thought it was a 2:55, not 2:25. I flew through Houston with what can only be described as a lovely four hour layover. Continental did, however, reward me for all of these mishaps by giving me a middle seat on the bulkhead (no leg room) for my twelve hour flight to Buenos Aires during which I was being hit on by a male steward.

First Week: After recuperating from both anger and exhaustion I decided to explore the city a little. I’ve made it out to about seven of the 44 barrios thus far and have enjoyed them all as they are both interesting and unique. I started my language school this past Monday and feel like my Spanish is improving quite a bit. To my surprise, there are actually other Rotary Scholars in this language school, even ones who will be studying in other parts of the country. There are four of us in total (but we’ve also been hanging out with an Irish girl who’s also in the school) and we’ve managed to have quite a time in the past week.

Social Scene: Argentina is truly the city that doesn’t sleep. For those of you who are die hard New Yorkers and somewhat offended by my comment, humor me. Our first night out we managed to meet a local who took us to a kiosk bar (think seven eleven meets random sketchy bar) near the city center. It was nothing special but it was nice to establish a local connection. Thursday night we went into Palermo and met some friends of friends at their amazing apartment. They live on the 22nd floor and have a huge place with a balcony and a view of the Parque, airport, entire city, and they water/Uruguay. Between the four of them they pay $1,100 US each month. After a few beers and many amazing views we went out in the barrio to a local rooftop bar and had too good of a time until 3AM. Friday night was our big night out and we decided to do a celebratory dinner. We went to a Parrillada (a typical Argentina barbeque restaurant) and, between the four of us, had four bottles of wine, an appetizer for all to split, and twice as much meat as any of us could eat, all for less than $20US. I think I’m going to like Argentina. We finished dinner at 1AM and headed to a pub since the “going out” crowd usually doesn’t make it out until around 3AM. Once we finally made it to a disco our group split up as a few of us didn’t want to pay the outrageous cover of $10 US. I made it home around 4:30 AM that night as I was still a bit jetlagged. Saturday was our “low key” night and we headed to a pool hall where every booth has it’s own tap. It was a bit expensive (about $3 a beer) but well worthy the novelty and hilarity of being able to pour your own beers the whole night. We ended up meeting some more local Argentines over some games of pool and didn’t pack it in until 5 (which is still considered early by Argentine standards).

I need to remind myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint, but there’s just so much to do and everything is so affordable. I’ve also done a bit of exploring of the cultural parts of the city. I made it down to Puerte Madera, the port area with post modern architecture and over to Parque de 3 de Febrero, Buenos Aires equivalent to central park. Of all the countries that I’ve been to I’ve never taken to one easier. Having an immediate pier/friend group has certainly helped. If I could change one thing it would be to expand this group to a greater number of locals, but I think/hope that will come with time (especially after starting classes in the university).

I can myself slowly shaking off the rust of this whole “blog update” concept and promise to work on improving writing/information. In the meantime, check out the pictures I have posted and enjoy some of the fun facts below:

FACT: My average bedtime (including school nights) is 3:30 AM

FACT: In college the saying used to be “Thursday is the new Friday,” well in Argentina the saying is “Wednesday is the new Thursday.”

FACT: The currency exchange is 3:1 and awesome. The dinner alone in our big night out would have cost me well over $150 in the states. The dinner, wine, pub beers, and two cab rides cost me $60 US.

FACT: After said dinner we saw lights and cameras outside our restaurant, like they were setting up for a photo shoot. I think it was the four bottles of wine that gave us the courage to just walk right up to them and ask if we could be in the picture, they agreed. It was pretty much your standard photo, reasonably dressed people standing and smiling. Afterwards, however, when we inquired as to the nature of the photo shoot we were told it was for a Male porn movie. Go us.

FACT: My apartment is small. My bed is only 6 ft long, with a head board and footboard. I’m 5’11.75” so no problem right? WRONG. I lose about a quarter of an inch in pillow space and my feet press outward when I sleep, so I’m pretty much locked into my bed. Waking up with a swollen knee every morning is fun.

FACT: My personal bathroom is roughly 3’ x 4.’ No problem except for the fact that it contains a sink, toilet, and shower. Every time I go in there it’s like a fun game of Frogger as I shuffle between various obstacles.